Marinduque Vacation-An Alternative to Boracay, if Night Life is not required!

Planning to Retire Soon!

If you are planning to retire in the Philippines soon, I suggest you visit several excellent websites on pro's and cons of retiring in the Philippines. However if you want to retire in the provinces, where life is simple, standard of living cheaper, less traffic congestion and pollution, availability of fresh seafood and vegetables compared to the big cities, my island province is the place for you! If this is your first time in my site, welcome. Please do not forget to read the latest national and international news in the right side bar of this blog. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights. The photo above is the front yard of Chateau Du Mer-Our Retirement Home in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Friday, May 18, 2012

Overpopulation-Philippines Number 1 Problem in the next Decade

Last January, while doing our snowbirding sojourn in Marinduque, I was struck by the numerous children running in the streets both in town and in the rural areas during the weekends when there are no classes. I observed specially that there are more children in the rural areas than in the town proper. I commented to my wife that Filipinos main business is making children and if this continue, there will a time when the Philippines can not feed its population, resulting in discontent and malnutrition. I realize that birth control is not encourage by the Catholic Church and I believe this is the main reason for the problem. My observation was confirmed by a recent article published last April 25 on Financial Times in the Philippines titled “ South-east Asia Llama breaks into a Trot.” Here's a summary of the article.
Since 2004, remittances have grown from $7bn-$8bn to $20bn, nearly 10 per cent of GDP. The fact that so many people need to work abroad is a sign of the economy’s inability to generate enough jobs. But remittances are serving a purpose and have held up well since the financial crisis. The Philippines is emerging as a solution to the labor shortages of mature economies the world over.
First of all, the increased remittances by our overseas workers is a direct reflection of our country’s inability to employ its own people, which inexorably continues to worsen as an inevitable consequence of our population’s rapid growth. It is increasingly likely that overseas employment will dry up as a consequence of Peak Oil and the worsening global economy.
Philippine call centers have grown exponentially, trumping those in India. Revenues from back office businesses have quintupled over six years from $2bn to $11bn.” What this really means is that Indian wages have improved to the point that we are now the world's cheapest English-speaking labor.
The CIA World Fact Book (www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world -factbook/geos/rp.html) estimates that our population will be close to 104 million by July of this year.
Our National Statistics Coordination Board (www.nscb.gov.ph/secstat/d_popnProj.asp) estimates our 2040 population at about 141,670,000. So over the next 28 years, we will have to generate food, clothing, employment and housing for another 37 million people. With regards to housing: Natural catastrophes are increasing in frequency for one simple reason: all the safe places for housing are already occupied, forcing our people to build in hazardous areas.
Quoting a 2006 paper by Ando Siringan and Kevin Rodolfo: “The Philippine population, mostly residing on coastal plains, is squeezed, figuratively, between the two jaws of a vice: its own rapid growth, and the subsidence and flooding generated by its own use of groundwater...Subsidence and aggravated flooding from groundwater overuse share the root cause of many other Philippine problems. Along with increasing deforestation, soil erosion and lethal landslides, garbage, over-crowded classrooms, joblessness and, to the detriment of the Filipino family, the country’s increasing economic reliance on overseas workers, it stems from rapid population growth, with no consistent governmental policy to moderate it since 1969 (Acoseba, 2003a).
From 1995–2000, the national population grew annually by 2.36% (National Statistics Commission, 2000). A formal Population Management Program,created by the government’s Commission on Population to develop measures for decreasing this growth, reported in a press release published in three parts (Acoseba, 2003a; 2003b; 2003c) that its recommendations were embodied in a Reproductive Health Care congressional bill. Largely because of concerns about abortion and contraception, that bill languished in committee for two years.
It was supposed to be the prelude to a proposed Population and Development Act, but the president threatened to veto it in 2003 and offered no alternative means for managing population growth.”
Do you agree with my assessment that overpopulation will be the Philippines number 1 problem in the next decade?

Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center

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ABOUT ME

I am a retired Filipino-American who loves writing, gardening and photography. My wife ( of 58 years) and I enjoy our snowbird lifestyle between US and the Philippines.

We have a small but very private beach resort (above video) in the beautiful island of Marinduque, Philippines. I have several blog sites (ten), a personal blog, blogs about retiring or visiting the Philippines and about our beach resort-CHATEAU DU MER.

Fruit Trees in the Gardens of Chateau Du Mer

The Mango Tree-I have three varieties in my Garden-The Indian, Guimaras and Carabao Mangoes
My caretaker/gardener informed me last month that due to the El Nino drought in Marinduque, two of my Durian trees died in spite of his vigilant watering. One of the tree was attacked by insects that looks like a big fly but yellowish in color that sucks the sap of the seedling. The roots of the other tree was attacked by ants residing in the soil. However, my other fruit trees, the rambutans( 2), the lanzones(2) and the jack fruits ( 2) trees are doing well. The above eight fruit trees were given to me by Retired General Recaredo Sarmiento of Boac and Lucena., about three years ago. General Sarmiento is the “atid” of my wife. “Atid” is the colloquial term for brother. Evidently, Macrine's father, the late Bernardo Jambalos was the Godfather of General Sarmiento during his baptism and comfirmation.
Gen Sarmiento's hobby is orchard planting, reforestation and farming.
The other fruit trees in my garden are guayabanos, cashew, avocados, starapples, duhats, ates, guavas, mangoes( 3 varieties) and papayas as well as several varieties of bananas . Of the above fruit trees, my favorite is the guayabanos, also known as soursop tree known for its anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties . The following are photos of the fruit trees. The Durian photo is from the web. Note that it almost look like a jack fruit tree, except that the leaves are bigger and shiny. My desire is to have a passion fruit tree in the near future. You are welcome to visit my orchard and flower gardens any time, if perchance you are in the vicinity of The Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center.
The Rambutan Tree and Fruits
The Lanzone Tree and Fruits
The Jack Fruit Tree
The Durian Fruit Tree

Disclaimer: Most of the photos and videos included in this blog are not owned by me unless stated. If you are the owner of the photo/video and you would like to be credited, please let me know and I will pay proper attribution after careful verification of your identity and of your 'claimed' image/s. The photos/videos used in this blog are results of myGoogle and other Internet searches. Thank you and if you enjoy this blog, help support it by clicking on the ads.

Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Island

View of Mainland Marinduque from Tres Reyes Island-Click photo to link to Marinduque Awaits You